New ramp from King Bridge gets underway Monday

 

From Illinois Business Journal news services

Work will begin in earnest this coming week on a project to construct a new ramp that will connect eastbound traffic from the Martin Luther King Bridge to westbound Interstate 55/64.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will close one lane of westbound I-55/64 between Third Street and Tudor Avenue approaching the Poplar Street Bridge in East St. Louis beginning after the morning rush hour on Monday.

Work will begin at 9 a.m. and will temporarily close the left lane of westbound I-55/64 at the location to install pavement markings in preparation of the closure of the right lane later that day. The right lane will remain closed through November of 2016 at which time the next sequence of work will require that the left lane be closed and it will remain closed through the spring of 2017 to complete the work. Throughout the duration of this work, one lane of traffic will be closed at all times leaving two lanes open for traffic.

Additionally, intermittent closures of all westbound lanes of I-55/64 at the location are scheduled during overnight hours on Wednesday, March 2, between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. These closures will be limited to 15-minute periods each and are necessary to remove existing overhead sign structures associated with this project.

Extensive delays are expected at the location during weekday morning rush hours, and motorists are urged to plan accordingly and use alternate routes including the I-70 Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge or the Martin Luther King Bridge. Message boards will also be utilized to provide additional and current information.

The contractor on the project is Keeley and Sons of East St Louis. Joseph G. Gasaway is the supervising field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation in the area. Questions may be directed to him at (618) 346-3354.

IDOT District 8 updates are also available on Twitter at https://twitter.com/IDOTDistrict8.